


Free Will

by KennaxVal



Category: Perfect Match (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:06:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21862672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KennaxVal/pseuds/KennaxVal
Relationships: Hayden Young/Main Character (Perfect Match)
Kudos: 1





	Free Will

After everything that happened that year, a cheery celebration of Christmas seemed like just what we needed.

The house had a woodsy aroma from the fire, the tree was decorated with ornaments, stockings adorned the wall, and I had a tray of hot cocoa with chocolate chip cookies to bring Hayden. Sure, they were meant for Santa, but sampling them seemed right. After all, we wouldn’t want the big fella let down by our baked goods. The only thing left was to enjoy each other’s company before Nadia came to pick us up for caroling. 

As far back as either of us could remember, Nadia and I always went door to door singing Christmas carols and we weren’t going to let Eros almost taking over the world stop this most important tradition. I was sure Hayden would be on board, but that night she was feeling a bit tense. She wasn’t complaining or anything like that, she just wasn’t showing a lot of enthusiasm.

I’d been talking about this for weeks but now that I thought about it, Hayden always did seem quick to change the subject. Perhaps I just thought the conversation was over, but from this perspective, I could see otherwise. It would be at least an hour before Nadia showed up, so I figured that was as good a time to talk about it as any.

Hayden’s hands shook as I held them, confirming my suspicions.

“So are we going to talk about what’s wrong?”

Those dark, expressive eyes and flowing, black hair cascading down her shoulders made me as weak in the knees as ever. But they also told me quite a bit with her body language.

“Don’t you like singing?” 

Hayden lowered her head. “It’s not that Kai. I just… Christmas is a really weird time for me. I have all these memories of going out as a kid with my parents. Only they’re not my parents, and I was never a kid. Honestly, I would love nothing more than to go out with you and Nadia but I don’t know if it’s really me. Maybe I just want to go singing because that’s what Eros programmed within me. It’s just got me wondering if I even have free will or if everything I say and do is the byproduct of that awful organization.”

That made a lot of sense. Finding out you’re not a human, at least in the traditional sense, has got to be devastating. And with a lot of heartbreaks in life, this wasn’t something she could come to terms with immediately. There would be days in which she felt up and down and I needed to be sensitive to that. Getting Hayden to accept herself as the wonderful person she is was going to be a journey, and I felt more ready than ever to embark on that with her.

“Hayden,” I softly pulled her hands close to my chest, “do you feel that heartbeat?” She nodded. “It’s going a lot faster because of you. My heart races because I love you and I know that what we have is real. Eros didn’t intend for you to stop their evil plans and yet you did it anyway. You’re no more programmed to love singing Christmas songs than I am. I guess you could say that God made me with a similar setup as you. The important thing is, what will make you happy?”

“Singing with you,” Hayden said half-heartedly.

“Well then, like Nike says ‘Just Do It.’ Don’t worry about what Eros would want. Just make the decisions that make you the happiest and I promise you’ll be fine.”

Eagerly, Hayden gripped me in a tight hug. “I know this is still a journey, Kai. But right now, I know I love you too and I want nothing more than to sing Christmas carols. So let’s have fun and worry later.”

I kissed her luscious lips in a moment that was cut short by a knock on the door.

“Nadia,” I said with a sigh, “you really have an off sense of timing.”

Before I could get up, Hayden pulled me back for another kiss. “Let her wait a minute. We’re exploring our free will.”


End file.
